The present invention relates to methods for generating images in volumetric displays. More specifically, but without limitation thereto, the present invention relates to a computer program for controlling beam deflectors of a three-dimensional volumetric display.
3-D display technologies such as holography, stereoscopic displays, and advanced 3-D graphics engines generally render 3-D images on a two-dimensional display by mapping the coordinates of the 3-D images into 2-D perspective. However, these technologies lack the physiological depth cues needed for true 3-D display imaging, such as motion parallax, accommodation, convergence, and binocular disparity. A 3-D volumetric display provides the physiological depth cues needed for such applications as air traffic control, submarine undersea navigation, and medical imaging.
3-D volumetric displays using a two-dimensional display surface having a periodic motion inside a display volume require a graphics engine that transforms conveniently represented world coordinates of actual scenes into device coordinates. The device coordinates control light beam deflectors that direct light beams to a display surface that has a periodic motion within the display volume. The display scatters the light beams from different positions within the display volume to generate a time multiplexed representation of the desired scene.
Because the device coordinates must accommodate a display surface that may have a variety of shapes and different types of periodic motion, each volumetric display may require different device coordinates to generate the same image. However, generating different device coordinates for the same image for each type of volumetric display can be an expensive and error-prone task.
A need therefore exists for a method to transform conveniently represented world coordinates into the device coordinates that can control the beam deflectors of a variety of volumetric displays.